A suspended railway has at least one upper suspension cable supported at intervals at towers following catenary paths between the towers. Suspended from this upper cable by means of a plurality of horizontally spaced upright hangers or suspenders (see our copending application Ser. No. 956,654) of different lengths is one or more lower track cable or cables defining a generally straight and noncatenary path which may be level or inclined. In a light-duty low-speed system a passenger or freight car has a bogey or truck that rides directly on the track cable.
In a heavy-duty system the track cable carries a rigid track (see our copending application Ser. No. 956,442) on which the passenger or freight car rides (see German patent publication 1,905,686 whose U.S. equivalent is 3,541,964). Such a rigid track greatly decreases lateral sway, that is displacement of the track and car in a horizontal direction transverse to the direction of travel longitudinally along the cables, and permits heavy loads to be transported at high speeds.
Such a system is normally provided at each of the towers with at least one rounding or shaping beam (see copending application Ser. No. 956,442 which imparts to the track between the towers in the unloaded condition a negative curve, downward concavity, that is straightened out when these sections between the towers are loaded by the car traveling along the track (see German Pat. publication No. 2,149,871). The amount of vertical deflection at the tower is minimal, so that it is even possible to mount such a reinforcing beam on the tower in such a manner that it cannot move vertically relative thereto or at least that it can at most only rock about a horizontal axis fixed on the tower.
Stations (see copending application Ser. No. 956,443 now Pat. No. 4,211,171) must be provided along such a suspended railway for loading and unloading. Whether they are way stations through which the railway passes or terminal stations at which the transport path ends, such stations are invariably supported fixedly relative to the ground and are provided with stationary guide and support structure for the cars which must be fully stationary during any loading and unloading.